January 2019

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Interview with Top executives

Topic

What is your reaction to the Union budget 2018-19 laid in Parliament by finance
minister Arun Jaitley? What will be its impact on your business?

Overall, Union budget 2018-19 is very balanced
India's finance minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2018-19 in Parliament
on February 1, 2018. Fibre2Fashion spoke to people from various segments of the
textile-apparel-e-commerce industry to get their reactions.

The budget has introduced some interesting schemes towards agriculture and rural
development. They continue to support investments in infrastructure, which will
support our portable compressor range. Many of our suppliers will benefit from the
corporate tax reduction for MSMEs and perhaps it will encourage capital expenditure,
which could in turn support our industrial compressor range. Overall, while there
are no explicit manufacturing boosters, we hope that the momentum from the last
quarter will sustain through 2018.

The 20 per cent higher allocation in infrastructure development in this budget shows
the government’s thrust on renewing spurt in economic activity. The allocation of
Rs 5.97 lakh crore for infrastructure spends which include the completion of 35,000
km under the Bharatmala project and targeted completion of 9,000 km of national
highways by end of FY19 will have a positive impact on the overall growth of the
country. The textile sector gets an increased allocation of Rs 7,148 crore from
Rs 6,230 crore in the last budget. Overall the budget is very balanced with a youthful
flavour. On one hand it focuses on growth and supporting innovation within the economy
with special incentives for small and medium enterprises, on the other it has something
for the senior citizens as well as women.

The Union budget 2018-19 is a very neutral and not a populist one as expected, unlike
the last 3 budgets. The entire focus was on agriculture and infrastructure industry
while there was no major takeaway for the apparel industry.

With special thrust on the social sector, this year's budget has ensured that India
will be clocking a healthy growth rate. We are happy that finance minister has given
a boost to infrastructure spends and to the MSME sector. The MSME sector is the
backbone of our economy and this boost will ensure higher production and consumption.

With focus on technology, the finance minister has provided great support to the
digital industry. The government’s decision to create 500,000 wi-fi hotspots in
rural India will enable broadband access to those with no or little access to the
realm of the internet. This will help in the growth of the digital commerce industry
and encourage more people to adopt cashless economy.

Union Budget 2018-19 has prioritised farmers. It has incorporated provisions for
capacity building for women with a lot of positivity spelt out for the middle class
and senior citizens. For textiles however, while there is an allocation of Rs 7,148
crore, not much has been said about concrete correctional measures to boost India’s
export competitiveness or policies favouring a revival of textile SEZs.

Published on: 03/02/2018

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.